


A Change of Opinions

by NamelesslyNightlock



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-04
Updated: 2011-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-10 15:29:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2030331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A potions incident. An apology. A conversation. A change of opinion. </p>
<p>"Why are you so annoying?"<br/>"Would you notice me otherwise?"<br/>"What?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Change of Opinions

"Evans?"

…

"Evans!"

…

"Hey Evans!"

…

"EVANS!"

…

"LILY!"

"Leave me alone!"

"I want to apologize!"

"You don't need to."

"I don't?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you won't mean it and that you'll just do it again tomorrow, so why bother?"

"It wasn't even me!"

"Then who was it?"

…

"Exactly."

"It's not that it was me, I just can't rat on my friends."

"Well, it's nice to see that you have some morals at least."

"See, we're not all bad."

"But, from what I've heard, you only refuse to rat on your friends because it is against the Marauder code, and if you did you would be forced to run a lap of the school in nothing but flashing paint. "

"Is that really what you think of me?"

"Have you ever given me a reason to think otherwise?"

"Yes, I have! I have been on time to all of the prefect meetings-"

"Only because Remus made you."

"-I've not hexed anyone for no reason at all this year-"

"So, in your book, Snape is not a person, is he?"

"-and, when have I ever given the impression that the only reason I stick with my friends is because they'll make me run otherwise? That's just taking it too far, Evans."

"Okay, I'll give you that one – you and your friends are really close. But, when it comes to everyone else, you don't give a damn – you turn their hair different colors, or put love potion in their pumpkin juice, or cause their potion to explode giving them a zero and dying their skin purple, which will not change for a week!"

"I told you, that wasn't me!"

"Whatever, Potter. But not having anything to do with that one incident is not enough to redeem you from everything else."

"What can I do then, to redeem myself?"

"Well, you can start by leaving me in peace."

"Where are we going?"

"Right now _I_ am going to the Library."

"What are you doing that for? It's lunchtime! You're supposed to eat lunch!"

"Yes, but I want to find a spell that will allow me to turn my skin back to the proper color."

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"See, right there! Why would you be apologizing if you didn't do it?"

"Because Sirius would never apologize to you."

…

"Why are you looking at me like that? Why are you… smug?"

"Have fun running naked, James."

"Oh damn."

"And I never expected any of you to apologize, so why bother?"

"Because it is the right thing to do."

"Now, Potter, I am going to go into this library, and I expect you to turn around, and head off to lunch with your friends, all right?"

"All right."

…

"Why are you still following me, Potter?"

"You said that you expected me to go to lunch; you never said I had to."

"Leave me alone!"

"I thought you might want some help finding a way to change your skin back to normal."

"You'll probably just make it worse! I doubt you've ever been in the library before!"

"Now you're confusing me with Sirius."

"That's really not a hard mistake to make."

"Really? Well, let me help you. Sirius' hair is longer than mine, and it actually stays where he wants it too, he has grey eyes while mine are hazel-"

"Will you _SHUT UP_?"

"Yes ma'am."

…

"Why are you still here?"

…

"Potter, go away!"

…

"Potter!"

…

"Speak!"

"So first you tell me to try to help, then to go away, then to shut up, and now you want me to talk again? And you thought I had problems…"

"Shut up, Potter."

"See what I mean?"

"Ugh! You are so annoying."

"Well, I do try."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you so annoying?"

"Would you notice me otherwise?"

"What?"

"Never mind."

"No, say that again."

"Fine, Evans! Tell me truthfully, if I didn't annoy the hell out of you, would you even look at me?"

…

"Didn't think so."

"Why do you even want me to look at you, though?"

"Have you not been listening these past few years? Would you like me to ask you out again?"

"You're only after me for the chase. You only want me because I'm the one girl you can't have."

"That's not true."

"Don't you think I would know what I'm thinking a little better than you do? Or do you know Legilimency?"

"You're lying. If I ever said yes, you would leave me alone."

"So… you don't want me to leave you alone then?"

"That's not the-"

"Never mind, forget I ever said that. But think, Evans, is there really ever a moment where I have lied to you? Flat out lied?"

…

"Exactly."

"What about all those times I caught you on patrols? I don't think I believe all those stories about 'going for a walk' or 'getting some fresh air'."

"Well, They were never _un_ true – it might not have been the whole truth, but they were never a lie."

"Well, then, I guess. But things change."

"Yes, they do. Is it so hard to believe that I've changed too? Why are you shaking your head?"

"I can't believe you. You are James Potter, and I am Lily Evans. You don't like me, and I don't like you. You are only after me so that you can brag to your friends about how you won over the girl that hated you for so long, and then you'll move onto the next one. I'm just another Quidditch match to you. You always lie to me, and that is what you are doing right now. I will not let your little scheme work on me. I bet Sirius was in on it too, wasn't he? Did you ask him to blow up my cauldron to put your plan in action?"

"That really is what you think of me isn't it."

"That is really what I think of you."

"Very well. I can tell when I'm not wanted."

"Yeah, and my sister has a pet uni– Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"Away. I can see that all I have done these past few years is irritate you."

"That's not true!"

"That's not what you were saying a second ago."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Seems like you did to me."

"Potter, wait!"

…

"Potter, come back."

…

"Potter?"

…

"Potter!"

…

"Hey, Potter!"

…

"POTTER!"

…

"JAMES!"

"Can't you see I want you to leave me alone?"

"Never stopped you."

"What caused this sudden change of opinion, anyway?"

"Some irritating boy blew up my cauldron."

"Right. But, if I recall correctly, and I usually do-"

"Arrogant git."

"-then your cauldron exploded a while ago, not immediately before your change of opinion."

"Fine, I had a breakthrough."

"What kind of-"

…

…

" _Oh._ That kind of breakthrough."

"What? No asking out?"

"You know, you really confuse me Evans. First-"

"Haven't you already given me this lecture in the past ten minutes?"

"Shush, let me finish. And stop rolling your eyes at me. First, you tell me you hate me. Then, you do that whole shut up, speak, shut up thing, and pretty much tell me you like me. Then, you tell me you hate me some more, and you want me to leave, so I did. Then, you chase after me and kiss me, and tease me about asking you out."

"Why are you complaining? Oh Merlin, I was right, wasn't I? You are in it for the chase, I never should have… Oh my Merlin! I can't believe I fell for your little sch-"

…

"Will you stop kissing me? I'm trying to argue with you here!"

"Well, sorry Lily, but you did seem to enjoy it-"

"Prongs, you kissed her? That's great, I mean-"

"GET OUT OF HERE, PADFOOT!"

"SIRIUS BLACK, I SWEAR, ONE MORE WORD-"

"Okay, okay, geez."

…

"The nerve!"

"Sorry about him."

"Oh no, I'm glad he came. He's pretty much just confirmed my theory that you were in it only for the chase."

"Lily, please, you can't really believe that."

"Why not?"

"If I was in it just for the chase, why would I have bothered to chase after you for over six years?"

"Why make a spectacle of it all if you took it seriously?"

"Lily, every time you rejected me it hurt. It hurt so much, I didn't think I would be able to cope. But I couldn't give up – I could never give up. Merlin knows I tried – just ask Sirius or Remus. I just couldn't. So, I figured that if I made it extravagant and irritated you, then I could tell myself that you were rejecting it all because it was ridiculous, rather than just because you hated me…"

"James…"

"You called me James!"

"I did before too, or did you just not notice."

"Nah, I noticed. But I just thought you were doing it to get my attention."

"Well, that kind of was the point…"

"Anyway, where does this leave us?"

"What on earth do you mean?"

"Lily… do you want to go out with me?"

…

"I knew it."

"No… No, James, come back!."

"That tripping jinx was really not necessary."

"Well, I wasn't going to chase after you again."

"Lily, I know you hate me. I know you probably only kissed me before because that potion Sirius blew up in your face probably affected your brain for a moment. So please, just let me be. I'll go find Sirius, and then we can go down to The Three Broomsticks – we're of age now, so…"

"No, wait."

"Why, Evans?"

"Lily."

"What?"

"James, my name is Lily."

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Lily, you say you think I'm scheming. But out of the two of us, who is acting the most out of character?"

"James, I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I want to apologize."

"You don't need to."

"Yes, I do."

"No you don't. You'll just break my heart again tomorrow, so why bother?"

"James…"

"What now?"

"I want to ask you something."

"Well, ask quick, because I'm going to miss lunch, and you're still looking like a grape."

"Actually, go to lunch."

"What?"

"Go."

"Fine."

* * *

_~Five minutes later…~_

"So, Prongs, how'd it go?"

"Terrible, Pads. I think I've really done it this time…"

"What happened?"

"Well…"

"Oh dear."

"I know."

"I'm sorry, mate."

"S'not your fault."

"Yeah, it is. If I hadn't have put that powdered acromantula fang into her potion-"

"It would have happened anyway. She hates me."

"Hey, what's that?"

"Really, Pads? Here's Prongs, spilling his guts about his issues and all you can do is look over his shoulder?"

"Shut up, Moony! Look at it!"

"Where?"

"There!"

"Oh my Merlin…"

"Prongs, look at it!"

"Leave me alone, Pads."

"No, really, look! Get your head off you're arms, stop being all mopey and look behind you!"

"Fine."

…

"What is that?"

"You know, it kind of reminds me of that time in fourth year when you… no way…"

"Is that a…"

"Yeah. It's a dog with lilies in its fur. And it's headed for you, mate."

"You know what that means?"

"She's gloating."

"Stop shunning the dog, Prongs, and take the damn letter it's trying to give you!"

"Whatever."

…

…

"Prongs, you okay mate?"

"Prongs?"

"Moony, I think he's in shock."

"So do I."

"Wonder what the letter said."

"I think I have an idea…"

"What is it?"

"Well, I'll give a clue. Look at the teachers table."

"Is that… Evans?"

"Yup."

"What is she doing?"

"Well, she's walking down the table and attracting a lot of attention..."

"Oh my Merlin…"

"Prongs, look away from the letter for a second…"

"James?"

"Lily? What are you doing?"

"You don't remember?"

"Yes, but…"

" _Sonorus!"_

"She's not going to…"

"JAMES POTTER, WILL YOU ACCOMPANY ME TO HOGSMEADE THIS WEEKEND?"

"Oh Moony, she is."

"It seems like the world has gone upside down."

"Ladies and Gentleman, hell has just frozen over."

"Lily Evans just asked James Potter out on a date."

"What the hell."

"Bit of a change in opinions."

"Yeah, just a bit."

"And now we'll have to live through James telling us how great she is… more than usual."

"He'd better get me a good Christmas present. If I hadn't tampered with that potion, none of this would have happened after all."

"Shut up, Padfoot."

"Will do, Moony."


End file.
